Minerals, for example, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and iron, have been being analyzed to be a physiologically important nutrition for living bodies. Modern people would have to make considerable effort for continually attaining the intake of the necessary amounts of minerals everyday in their food lives. Excessive diet or aging causes breaking down hormone balances, and excessive intake of instant foods or increased frequent eating out in food life may cause a chronic mineral deficiency. Subsequently, the balance between bone-formation and bone-absorption may be broken down. Then, calcium as a main ingredient may be reduced in calcium-containing tissues such as bones and teeth. Further, bone disorders such as osteoporosis, bone fracture and backache; tooth-disorders such as dental caries and periodontosis; urinary organ disorders such as nephrolithiasis; circulatory diseases such as hypertension and ischemic heart diseases; anemia; diabetes; or reduction of homeostatic function is easily developed.
In order to solve such mineral deficiency, oily vitamins or hormone preparations such as vitamin D, calcitonin preparations, estrogen preparations, protein anabolic hormone preparations and bisphosphonate have been administered in addition to various mineral preparations. Although this method is more effective than a single administration of minerals, it is not necessarily satisfactory because of its complicated administration schedule and fear of side effect due to excessive administration of oily vitamins or hormone preparations. In addition, such mineral preparations also have a problem that they may cause the rise of blood mineral level when excessively administered.
In consideration with such situation, food business has been developing exploitation of a raw material which is tasty, safe even if administered every day, effective on promoting mineral absorption, and capable of effectively supplementing minerals in a sufficient daily amount in daily food life in a single use or in combination with meals, foods between meals, or health foods. For example, accelerators for mineral absorption, containing either xylooligosaccharide, mannooligosaccharide or lactuloseoligosaccharide as an effective ingredient, are disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication Kokai Nos. 67575/95, 306093/2002 and 205653/94, respectively. A magnesium supplement, containing magnesium and at least one member selected from the group consisting of nondigestible oligosaccharide, nondigestible sugar alcohol and dietary fiber, is disclosed in Japanese Patent Kokai No. 69902/95. An agent for strengthening bone, containing lactosucrose and calcium chondroitin sulfate, is disclosed in Japanese Patent Kokai No. 33668/95. However, some kinds of such raw materials have the following problems when added to foods and beverages; they may lower foods and beverages in flavor such as taste, smell and mouth feeling, and need a large amount to exert a satisfactory effect. While, some kinds of minerals may lower foods and beverages in preference due to its characteristic bitter taste and metal taste. To meet a variety of food life, the development of food materials having satisfactory effect on promoting mineral absorption without lowering their flavor such as taste, smell and mouth feeling, and being safe even when continually taken, has been further desired.
The present applicant disclosed a novel process for producing cyclic tetrasaccharide or a saccharide mixture containing it and its saccharide derivatives, and a composition containing them. The present applicant disclosed that these saccharides are hardly utilized by intestinal bacteria and capable of acting as a dietary fiber, in the specification of the International Publication Nos. WO 01/090338, WO 02/010361 and WO 02/072594. However, the above described patent publications, i.e. Japanese Patent Kokai No. 67575/95 through International Publication No. WO 02/072594, never disclose the fact that cyclic tetrasaccharide and/or saccharide derivatives thereof, or composition containing such saccharides have a mineral absorption-promoting action.